The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus for cooling the devices in a housing by using a fan that generates air flows, and relates to a cooling device.
There is known an image forming apparatus, such as a copier or a printer, that forms an image on a sheet member based on the electrophotography. The image forming apparatus includes a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor drum. The developing device includes a toner storage portion that stores toner. The developing device forms a toner image on the photoconductor drum by using the toner stored in the toner storage portion.
Meanwhile, in a configuration where a heating device is used to fix the toner image to the sheet member, a peripheral temperature of the toner storage portion may increase due to an influence of peripheral air heated by the heating device. In addition, the image forming apparatus includes devices, such as a motor and a power supply board, that become heat sources upon receiving a power supply, and a peripheral temperature of the toner storage portion may increase due to an influence of the heat emitted from the heat sources, other than the heating device. The toner is made of resin. As a result, when toner temperature increases as the peripheral temeratuere increases, fluidity of toner decreases. In addition, for the toner to be adhered to the photoconductor drum, it is necessary to impart charge to the toner. However, as the temperature rises, the charged amount of toner is decreased. If the fluidity of toner or the charged amount of toner decreases, a sufficient amount of toner does not adhere to the photoconductor drum, and an image defect, such as an image density reduction, occurs. As a result, a variety of methods for inhibiting the temperature rise caused by heat sources have been proposed. For example, a cooling device for cooling the power supply board and a power supply device in a housing has been proposed.